SWOT Analysis Bharti Airtel

Strengths
• Bharti Airtel has more than 65 million customers (July 2008). It is the largest
cellular provider in India, and also supplies broadband and telephone services
- as well as many other telecommunications services to both domestic and
corporate customers.
• Other stakeholders in Bharti Airtel include Sony-Ericsson, Nokia - and Sing
Tel, with whom they hold a strategic alliance. This means that the business has
access to knowledge and technology from other parts of the
telecommunications world.
• The company has covered the entire Indian nation with its network. This has
underpinned its large and rising customer base.

Weaknesses
• An often cited original weakness is that when the business was started by
Sunil Bharti Mittal over 15 years ago, the business has little knowledge and
experience of how a cellular telephone system actually worked. So the start-up
business had to outsource to industry experts in the field.
• Until recently Airtel did not own its own towers, which was a particular
strength of some of its competitors such as Hutchison Essar. Towers are
important if your company wishes to provide wide coverage nationally.
• The fact that the Airtel has not pulled off a deal with South Africa's MTN
could signal the lack of any real emerging market investment opportunity for
the business once the Indian market has become mature.

Opportunities
• The company possesses a customized version of the Google search engine
which will enhance broadband services to customers. The tie-up with Google
can only enhance the Airtel brand, and also provides advertising opportunities
in Indian for Google.
• Global telecommunications and new technology brands see Airtel as a key
strategic player in the Indian market. The new iPhone will be launched in
India via an Airtel distributorship. Another strategic partnership is held with
BlackBerry Wireless Solutions.
• Despite being forced to outsource much of its technical operations in the early
days, this allowed Airtel to work from its own blank sheet of paper, and to
question industry approaches and practices - for example replacing the
Revenue-Per-Customer model with a Revenue-Per-Minute model which is
better suited to India, as the company moved into small and remote villages
and towns.
• The company is investing in its operation in 120,000 to 160,000 small villages
every year. It sees that less well-off consumers may only be able to afford a
 few tens of Rupees per call, and also so that the business benefits are scalable -
using its 'Matchbox' strategy.
• Bharti Airtel is embarking on another joint venture with Vodafone Essar and
Idea Cellular to create a new independent tower company called Indus
Towers. This new business will control more than 60% of India's network
towers. IPTV is another potential new service that could underpin the
company's long-term strategy.

Threats
• Airtel and Vodafone seem to be having an on/off relationship. Vodafone
which owned a 5.6% stake in the Airtel business sold it back to Airtel, and
instead invested in its rival Hutchison Essar. Knowledge and technology
previously available to Airtel now moves into the hands of one of its
competitors.
• The quickly changing pace of the global telecommunications industry could
tempt Airtel to go along the acquisition trail which may make it vulnerable if
the world goes into recession. Perhaps this was an impact upon the decision
not to proceed with talks about the potential purchase of South Africa's MTN
in May 2008. This opened the door for talks between Reliance
Communication's Anil Ambani and MTN, allowing a competing Inidan
industrialist to invest in the new emerging African telecommunications
market.
• Bharti Airtel could also be the target for the takeover vision of other global
telecommunications players that wish to move into the Indian market.

ABOUT AIRTEL

Bharti Airtel
Telecom giant Bharti Airtel is the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises. The Bharti
Group, has a diverse business portfolio and has created global brands in the
telecommunication sector. Bharti has recently forayed into retail business as Bharti
Retail Pvt. Ltd. under a MoU with Wal-Mart for the cash & carry business. It has
successfully launched an international venture with EL Rothschild Group to export
fresh agri products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA and has launched
Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd under a joint venture with AXA, world
leader in financial protection and wealth management.
Airtel comes to you from Bharti Airtel Limited, India’s largest integrated and the first
private telecom services provider with a footprint in all the 23 telecom circles. Bharti
Airtel since its inception has been at the forefront of technology and has steered the
course of the telecom sector in the country with its world class products and services.
The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic
business units (SBU’s) - Mobile Services, Airtel Telemedia Services & Enterprise
Services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM
technology across 23 telecom circles while the Airtel Telemedia Services business
offers broadband & telephone services in 95 cities. The Enterprise services provide
end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national & international long
distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand.